Torn in Two
by Ariao
Summary: Summary inside. After "Fisher's Return and the Battle" the major use of OC's has fallen to just my main character, Ariao (For those of you still puzzled on how it's pronounced, it's like this: Are-eye-oh).
1. Summary for Torn in Two

***The first few chapters are strong with OCs, but once Ariao meets Team Excaliber, they drop out very quickly. I'll let you know when the OC's are done if you don't want to read the first few chapters***

* * *

~~~This takes place during Metal Masters before the battle between Excaliber and Wang Hu Zong~~~

* * *

Ariao Wang, sister to Dashan Wang, has left Beylin Temple in order to follow the path of a Bey Builder rather than a blader. But when she winds up in the E.U. things take a drastic turn. No sooner than she steps off the train than she is talked into joining a Beyblade gang.

As time goes on, she soon becomes more and more like one of the gang...but that changes when she meets Team Excaliber. After finally finding the courage to fight back against Syvia, Ariao is soon able to join up with Excaliber as their support member, just in time for the battle between Excaliber and Wnag Hu Zong.

When Excaliber finds out who she really is, acusations start to fly and Ariao is forced to find out who she really is...while holding loyalties towards both sides!


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

I couldn't take it anymore. The way everyone always expected me to be so much like my brother. It didn't help that he was _the_ best blader at Beylin temple.

I wasn't a blader at heart. I was a bey builder! I'd rather spend my time designing beys and building them than training all hours of the day to battle. So here I was, on the path that led to and from the temple, heading out on my own.

Dashan and I hadn't parted on the best of terms. We had argued about what would happen if I left. In a fit of rage, he had told me that if I went through with my plan…not only would I not be allowed back in the temple…I would be knocked from the team and our family connection severed. Although that last part had made me hesitate, I still went. After all…family is everything here in China.

I closed my eyes for a moment, gripping my own dark blue bey comfortingly before pocketing it. As long as I had Ocean Fisher, I was fine. With a sigh, I continued on, casting a final glance over my shoulder at the fading grey stone of Beylin Temple.

_So what if I can't return to Beylin Temple? It was never the place for me anyhow!_

First thing's first, I had to get out of China. Without even any idea of where to go, I decided to grab the first available train out and just go from there. _Let the flow take me where it will_.

Had I actually paid the location printed on the ticket any mind, I might have thought twice about that….

* * *

"_All passengers that are getting off at Konzern Station please exit the train now."_ I snapped awake as the announcement came over the intercom. Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I reached down and pulled my bag out from under the seat before heading out the door of the compartment I was on.

"Konzern…where have I heard that name before?" I muttered to myself as I jumped onto the platform. With a shake of my head, I dismissed the name for the moment and looked around the small town. There were shops nearby that were selling clothes and things of the like for tourists who wanted souvenirs or perhaps forgot something before they left home.

"Doesn't seem all that different on this end. Hopefully I got off at the right station." I jumped off the platform and headed into the little town, clutching the strap of my bag tightly.

"Right station? Do you have a particular destination in mind, miss?" I paused and looked over my shoulder to see a girl, her silvery grey hair cut extremely short and sticking out at odd angles.

"Not particularly. Just as long as it's outside of China." I muttered, turning to walk away. For some reason, I was picking up some dark energy from this girl and wanted nothing to do with her. Unfortunately she had other ideas.

"Trust me, you ain't in China anymore." The girl replied, quickly coming up to walk beside me. "This is the E.U." I froze and spun to look at the girl.

"E.U.? As in…Europe?" I asked, barely daring to believe it.

"European Union. But yes, this is the main part…Europe." She looked at me quizzically. "Name's Syvia by the way."

"I'm Ariao." I told her, more out of habit than anything else. _Of all the places to end up, I had to choose Europe!_ I reached a hand into my pocket, gripping Ocean Fisher tightly. Something was _very_ wrong here.

"There's no reason to be so tense." Syvia said, sliding over to circle me. "You seem like quite the blader…or perhaps you're a builder?" I felt her swipe something from my backpack and spun around to see her unfolding one of the larger pieces of paper.

"Give that back." I growled, pulling out my bey and snapping it onto my launcher, aiming it at Syvia. She looked at me for a moment before giving a brief nod.

"Nice bey." She said, folding the paper back up and handing it to me. I snatched it out of her hands before pocketing Ocean Fisher again. "You know, we could use someone like you around here."

"You mean to set up shop around Europe? Forget it. I'm getting on the next train out of here." Before I could take more than a few steps away, Syvia was in my path again, blocking me from going anywhere.

"Not really for Europe…for my gang." As if that had been a signal, bladers began coming out of the shadows and alley ways. "You see. Life out here can be pretty harsh. But with the right beyblading and skills, you can survive…even thrive on these streets."

"I'll pass. I want nothing to do with the darker end of blading." I said, trying again to get away, but with the circle of Syvia's gang now surrounding us, that proved impossible.

"No…you will come with us. You won't be taking part in the actual battles, but we need someone that's skilled with fixing beys." The circle closed in a bit around us.

"No battles?" I asked, slightly skeptical.

"None. Unless something happens that forces you to be involved." Syvia said, raising one hand to prove her pledge. Hesitantly, I looked at the group. All of them weren't in the best condition, most had rags and torn clothes that were about to fall apart and filthy.

_It wouldn't be a bad idea to help them. Plus…maybe I'm meant to be here in the E.U. After all, I've turned my back basically on China._ I thought as I looked back at the leader, Syvia.

"Well?" She asked, meeting my dark green eyes with her lighter ones. After a moment of silence, I closed my eyes.

"Alright. I'll stick around for a bit." I said. I could hear Fisher's protest start to ring in my ears, but I tried to block them out. One phrase still got through, however, as I started to fall in behind Syvia.

"There is no telling what these people are wanting to do! We shouldn't be doing this!"

"Don't worry. I won't let my guard down." I whispered, gripping Fisher's bey tightly.


	3. The Farmer and Monsoons

**Chapter One**

And that had been what brought me here. Two months later…at least I _think_ it was two months. Days had blurred together until I had soon lost all sense of time.

As for Syvia's promise that I would rarely see any battle? Yeah, that was out the window the minute Syvia had gotten it out of me that I was from Beylin Temple. My training soon made me one of the most powerful bladers on the streets. The strange thing was…I found myself falling into the gang mentality. I actually found myself enjoying the thrill and excitement of the battle. And trust me, there's a lot of those.

The rival gangs that always try to swipe some of our area. There were two other groups, one on the back of ours and the other off to the side that connected ours with Monsoon's, the group that was behind us.

"Yo, Ari. Snap out of it." I jumped back, snapped out of my thoughts. The boy speaking was smudged with mud and grime, but his grey eyes glowed brightly.

"What's got you so happy, Niro?" I asked, pushing a blueprint aside so he could sit on the wooden box I used as a desk. Niro plopped down and grinned at me.

"You know that farmer that's been checking the area near the station?" I nodded, having kept an eye on the plump man for the last few weeks. "He's set up shop not too far from the back alley near the Jeweler's Market."

"You're kidding!" I was on my feet in an instant. A farmer was the perfect person to help provide food for the gang for Bey Spirits knew how long!

"No joke. Come on, we can get first pick!" Niro jumped off the crate and sprinted off.

"Hold on a minute!" I reached over and grabbed Ocean Fisher, pausing as a spark went up my arm. That had been happening a lot lately and I couldn't help but think that my friend was angry with me. I hadn't seen Fisher out and about for so long…since before I had left Beylin Temple. Giving my head a shake, I headed off after Niro.

At the train station, pausing for a moment to swipe a bread roll off a baker's stand when her back was turned, we made our way down the street towards the Jeweler's Market on the west end. Sure enough, near the back of the Jeweler's Market, was the farmer.

"This is too good to be true!" Niro whispered excitedly as I looked at all the apples, oranges, and tomatoes that could "fall" off the stand. The carrots that could be swiped when the man's back was turned. It was a picker's paradise!

"You ready?" I asked, getting up. Niro and I had made a good team since the first outing we had done about a month ago. Niro nodded eagerly and walked over towards the farmer's stand, making it look like he was looking at the apples. After a few minutes, I headed over.

"Oops. Sorry." I said as I bumped into Niro, causing him to stumble into the cart, knocking a small number of apples, tomatoes, and oranges off the stand. "Here, let me help pick those up for you." I crouched and started to act like I was helping to put the fruit in place, when in reality, Niro and I were shoving them into bags.

"Hey! You plan to pay for those?!" I froze for a moment casting a swift glance at Niro. The farmer was onto us already! Apparently he still wanted someone to pay for bruised fruit.

"Run." I whispered, shoving a couple more apples into my bag and jumping to my feet. Niro was already scrambling into the nearby alley as I jumped to my feet.

"Thieves! Come back here!" I took off, looking back to see the farmer come over to the edge of the alley.

"Don't worry, we'll get your fruit back." I spun to a halt and looked back to see two boys with bey tattoos on their shoulders.

"Oh, no! What in the name of Bey Spirits are they doing here?!" Niro panted, having doubled back to see what was holding me up.

"Don't know. But no Monsoon is aloud here." I growled, tugging on Niro's arm. "Come on, we have to get farther in." He nodded and I led the way through the back alleys. Who knew how many of them there really were and it wasn't a chance I wanted to take without having an easy exit.

"Hold it right there!" I pulled Niro to a halt as two more Monsoon Bladers suddenly popped into view around the corner, blocking us from both sides.

"This part of the town is now going to belong to us." One of the ones who had been chasing us said, his amber eyes burning.

"Don't be too sure, Tera. This is still Sword Blade territory." Niro snapped as we stood back-to-back.

"So you say, Niro. And yet even you and Ariao there are outnumbered two-to-four." The second Monsoon sneered, pulling out his bey, a bright purple defense type.

"Enough talk. Let's settle this so you can go on home." I snapped, pulling out Ocean Fisher. The spark went up my arm again as I snapped it into place and aimed it at Zane, who had the bright purple defense type. With a nod, we launched our beys and the battle began.

"Special Move!" My eyes widened as Zane immediately called for his strongest attack. "Dark Fox! Dark Blaze!" The light purple bey paused a bit away from mine and spun for a moment as the dark fox came out of its bey. With a snarl, it charged at me.

"Fisher! Special Move! Diving Crush!" I called out, hoping that mine, as an attack type, would be able to overpower Dark Fox's attack. There was a small flash of light, but my kingfisher bit-beast was nowhere to be seen. Our attacks met and a cloud of smoke flew up, covering the blades for a moment.

"Ariao!" Niro said, looking back at me. I bit back the growl, knowing he was right. Even I was out of my league here. These four had us out powered and outclassed. Calling back my bey, I grabbed Fisher before taking off, Niro running in the opposite direction.

_"Fisher…where are you?"_ I called silently to my partner. Ever since I had built the bey, Fisher hadn't left my side. But now…I couldn't even find him! I jumped up onto a rooftop and paused, looking out at the small town. A flash of blue caught my eye and I looked over, hoping to see Fisher, but it was only someone's jacket. I sighed and jumped down, ready to meet up with Niro when a voice made me freeze.

"Where do you think you're going?" I turned slowly to see Tera and his companion, Teri. "Nice try, Ariao. It's too late to run and nowhere to go." Both had their beys at me and I was pinned to the wall.


	4. Fisher's Words

**Chapter Two**

I pressed tighter against the stone wall, slowly pulling out Fisher again, ignoring the jolt that ran up my arm.

"No! Don't fight them!" I froze, relief filling me that Fisher was finally talking to me again.

_Fisher! You're back!_ I slowly lowered the blade as Tera and Teri snickered, believing I was surrendering.

"Hey! Let the kid go!" I looked over Tera's shoulder to see the boy with the dark blue jacket and dark amber colored hair from earlier. Beside him was a girl with a pale silvery blue dress jacket and icy blue hair.

"I don't need saving." I snapped at them, meeting their blue eyes for a moment before glaring at Tera and Teri, who had turned to face the newcomers.

"Hey…aren't they…." Teri's voice whispered.

"Yeah…Konzern's twin jewels!" Tera added, taking a step back.

_What are they talking about?_ I wondered, watching them carefully.

"Let's scram!" Tera said and spun around, taking off into the shadows. I cast one look at them before jumping from wall to wall until I reached the roof of the house I had been against.

"Man, these gangs are getting out of hand again." The boy said. I looked over the edge of the roof to see him cross his arms over his chest.

"No kidding." The girl said, looking up in my direction as I ducked back out of sight. "I know I've seen the boys before…but who was the girl?"

"Who knows? Probably a new one they managed to drag in." The boy said and I looked over in time to see him turn. "Come on, Sophie. Let's go. Julian and Klaus will be waiting for us."

"Yeah. We can't spare any more time with the next match coming up." Sophie agreed as she turned to follow the boy. I stayed on the roof for a few moments before taking out Ocean Fisher and setting the bag of fruit down on the roof. With a sigh, I sat down and folded my legs under me, gripping Fisher tightly as I closed my eyes.

* * *

_A slight breeze made me open my eyes and I sighed with relief that I could still cross into the bey-spirit world. Almost at once, a lynx bounded over to me._

_"It's been a while since I've seen you around here."__ It purred, winding around me for a moment._

_"I know, Lynx. Have you seen Fisher around here recently?" I asked, watching the cat pause and sit down._

_"Now that you mention it, I've seen him quite often. Did the two of you have a fight?"__ Lynx asked, tilting its head at me._

_"Something like that." I told Lynx, looking away from the feline. The bey-spirit studied me for a long moment before giving me what I was looking for._

_"Fisher's near the pond over on the West. Good luck."__ I winced at the purring laugh it gave as it bounded off and I got to my feet. As I turned and headed for the pond Lynx had indicated, I heard a rumbling voice that made me freeze._

_"Ariao? Is that you?"__ I turned to see Rock Zurafa pad over, the ever-present flames glowing strongly on its body._

_"Hi, Zurafa." I said, almost wishing I could turn and walk away._

_"It's good to see you back here and to know you're alive. Your brother's been worried about you."__ Zurafa rumbled, looking at me._

_"I doubt that. He basically told me that if I left China, he wanted nothing to do with being my brother." I growled, spinning around. "And if you'll excuse me, I have to find Fisher." I hear a rumble in response before I was basically tossed into the air so that I landed on Zurafa's back._

_"I will take you to him."__ Zurafa said quietly and jumped into the air. Closing my eyes and crouching close to my brother's bey-spirit, I missed most of the trip before I finally realized that we were descending. When Zurafa crouched to let me off, I fell to the ground and scrambled to my feet to see Ocean Fisher gazing at me from a tree that hung out over the water. As I stepped closer to my companion, a rush of sudden wind told me that Zurafa had left us._

_"Why are you here? Has your mortal form been hurt?" I asked softly, looking up at Fisher._

_"No. But until you find your true path again, I can't return to you."__ Fisher told me, lowering his head a bit._

_"Find my true path?" I asked as the scenery started to fade. I was losing my connection to the bey-spirit world. Before Fisher could respond, everything turned black._

* * *

I opened my eyes to see the sun starting to set on the town near the station. "Wow. At least I know I can still reach it." I said softly, getting to my feet. With a final glance at the town closing up, I jumped down and began to head for the main base of our gang where Syvia lived.


	5. Arrival of Team Excaliber

**Chapter Three**

I had barely set foot in the crumbling building when Syvia was on me. "There you are! What happened? Niro got back thirty minutes ago and thought you had gotten back before him!" She gripped my shoulders and shook me, causing me to drop the bag of fruit.

"There were a few Monsoons that followed me. I had to take care of them before I could come back." I pulled out of Syvia's grip and took a few steps back. I wasn't too keen on telling her that the real reason Tera and Teri had run was because of those so called "Twin Jewels of Konzern" or something like that had come along.

"Those Monsoons again? They've taken it too far this time." A voice from the back of the group said.

"You're right, Wys. That station is clearly _our_ territory." Syvia said, turning to face the speaker, a lithe girl with long red hair and matching eyes.

"We should do a group attack. They want to outnumber us, we should give them the same courtesy." Nire added, walking over to stand beside me.

"But where is the honor in that?" Fisher's voice echoed in my ears. I was surprised to hear him, but as we headed out to Monsoon territory, he was quiet again. I knew he had a point, but what exactly could I do? If I tried to leave, gang law said that there would be no way I could hold a bey again. And yeah, I saw what was done to someone who left and I was in no hurry to put my own bey through that.

"Stay alert." Syvia whispered as we ducked into an alley. "We're in their territory now."

"Indeed you are." A voice growled behind me and we spun around to see a large Monsoon blader, his dark green bey pointed at Syvia. Suddenly, bladers were popping out of the shadows and launching their beys at us.

"Scatter!" Syvia cried and dove forward, launching her bey at Paul's dark green one. I sprang forward until I could get a bit of height on the battle before spinning around and launching Fisher.

"This time there's nowhere to run!" I looked down to see Tera come over and command his bey to attack mine.

"Who said anything about running?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"You little…" Tera growled and looked at our beys. "Dark Lynx! Special move: Night Slash!" Tera's black blade flashed and the lynx came bounding out with a yowl.

"Ocean Fisher! Diving Crush!" I called, hoping my own bit-beast would appear this time.

"Hold it right there!" Everyone turned to see a wall of water come crashing down around the beys near the front of the alley.

"You all have caused enough trouble around here. We won't let this go any further!" As the water cleared away from the first attack, I was surprised to see the two from earlier jumping in to join the fight.

"This is none of Konzern concern." Syvia snapped out, but even I could tell that these two bladers made her nervous.

"It is when you get this close to the Konzern mansion." The new voice had almost everyone trembling. Beys were called back as a third person stepped into view, his long golden yellow hair falling gracefully behind him. I heard a few whimpers about it being Konzern himself before the two gangs stepped back.

"Let's go. There's no need to continue this today." Syvia said, trying to regain her composure. As the rest of my fellow gang members filed out into the shadows of connecting alleys, I paused, looking at the group in front of me. The boy with the golden hair met my gaze for a moment, his blue eyes wide.

"Dashan?" He whispered. I bit back the growl and called back Fisher before following after Nire, who was looking back at me in confusion. I just shook my head, not really in the mood to explain.

* * *

"That kid looked too much like Dashan." Julian said, leaning against the wall. They had returned a few moments ago from breaking up another of the gang battles that had become too frequent.

"You think she's from Beylin temple? But why would she be a part of a gang here in the E.U.?" Whales asked, clearly puzzled.

"She might have been sent here to spy." Julian said darkly, pushing off from the wall to stand in front of Whales and Sophie.

"If what you say is true about that kid being a look-alike to Dashan, I'll bet she really has something else planned." Klaus commented from the back of the room.

"I don't know. She doesn't seem like the type to really even belong with a gang." Sophie put in, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. Before anyone could comment on that, a bird cry sounded outside the window. Puzzled, they all looked out and saw a dark blue kingfisher sitting on a branch nearby.

"Strange. What's a kingfisher doing so far inland?" Whales said, coming over to stand beside Sophie. As they watched, the bird took off and vanished from view.


	6. Fisher's Return and The Battle (Part 1)

**Chapter Four**

_I can't do this anymore…._ I thought, walking along the streets of the station market. Somehow I had to get out of this gang without losing Ocean Fisher in the process. That much had become clear to me after I had heard the boy mention my brother's name. But what could I really do? I was in too deep to really pull out. I paused near the baker's stand, looking at the breads on display. The baker's back was turned it was a perfect moment to swipe some! But I found myself holding back. Turning away from the stand, I walked on, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Your honor is returning." Fisher's voice sounded relieved in my mind. And clearer.

_Fisher? Are you here?_ I turned, looking for the distinctive blue feathers, only to turn and run into boy and girl that had put an actual stop to the gang battle yesterday.

"Hey, just the person we were looking for." The boy said, blinking as if he had been surprised to actually find me. A cry drew my attention to the sky and the breath left my body as the blue kingfisher circled and landed on my shoulder.

"Fisher." I breathed, barely daring to believe it.

"So this is your bird?" The boy asked skeptically. I looked back at him, feeling all my old confidence return with my partner's appearance.

"Right. This is Fisher. My partner." I told them, reaching up a hand to stroke the bird's silky feathers.

"Right. We need to talk to you about something." I winced at the girl's tone.

"This is about the gangs isn't it?" From the startled look they gave me, I knew I was right. "Look, I'd love to help, but I have my own problems to solve."

"I knew it. You don't want to be a part of it." The girl said, glancing at her friend.

"Sounds like it, Sophie." The boy said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

That had me backtracking. "Come with me." Without giving them a chance to protest, I grabbed them and pulled them into an abandoned building before spinning around to face them. "Two things: Who are you and how do you even know my brother. Your friend mentioned his name yesterday." I added before either of them could argue it.

"Dashan's your brother?" Sophie asked, blinking at me.

"My name is Ariao Wang. I'm a bey builder." I told them, stroking Fisher again.

"I'm Wales. This is Sophie." He gestured to his companion before looking at me. "Bey builder?" I smirked.

"Yeah, I had to be the odd one. I left Beylin Temple a few months ago to follow my path as a builder." I pulled out my own bey. "This is Ocean Fisher."

"Fisher?" I saw Sophie's eyes trail to the bird on my shoulder.

"Not in the mood to explain now, but yes, they are one in the same. But you still haven't mentioned how you know my brother." I growled, earning a disapproving note from Fisher.

"We're part of Team Excalibur." Wales said, looking at me like I should know all this. I bit back the retort I had in my head.

"Part of the tournament." Sophie added after I remained quiet.

"So what you're basically telling me is that you only know my brother because of the rivalry between Beylin temple and the Konzern Family?" I asked, leaning back against the wall.

"Pretty much." Wales said, shrugging. "Now will you help us?"

"Depends on what it is." I told them slowly. "Not because I don't want to help, but the wrong action against my gang friends could cost me Fisher." I added when they looked ready to comment on this.

"All we need is to know where the main base is. That's the only way to break them up." Sophie said. I had to choke back the laugh that threatened to escape.

"Yeah right. Like I can just show you where the base camp is." I finally got out as Fisher flew up to one of the exposed beams under the roof. I looked after the bird for a moment before returning my gaze to Wales and Sophie.

"That's the only thing we need." Sophie put in, an almost desperate tone in her voice.

"I doubt that." I said dryly, pushing off from the wall and stalking towards them. "There's something else. From what I've heard, Team Excalibur hasn't really been known for its…generosity." I paused, narrowing my eyes into a glare. "What's this really about?"

"Why are you determined to see this as an act?" Wales burst out, stalking forward until we were inches apart, blue eyes burning. "We have an image to keep up here in Italy. Especially under the Konzern name."

"Image? Is that it?" I asked, pulling back a few steps as Fisher let out a cry above my head.

"And what do we have here?" I felt a shiver run down my spine as Syvia's voice bounced around the room. Wales and Sophie spun around and I closed my eyes for a moment.

"Have these two come from Monsoon?" Syvia asked, stalking forward. I opened my eyes to see that there were four other bladers behind her. "No…You two are the Excalibur jewels that have been needling my members."

"And you must be the leader." I trembled as I took a step back, slowly reaching for my bey as Wales pulled out his, aiming it at the young leader.

"Fine. Ariao, stand back. I'll take care of this." Syvia said, casting a quick glance at me before turning her attention back to the two Excalibur members. Sophie pulled her own bey out and snapped it into place.

"Let it rip!" Three beys flew towards the center of the room. Finally, I snapped; I couldn't stand to be used anymore.

"Fisher!" I called up to my partner, looking up to where the bird was perched.

"I understand. Do it." Fisher's voice echoed in my head and the bird took off, flying down to land on my shoulder.

"Let it rip!" Snapping the bey into place, I launched Ocean Fisher so that it zoomed right towards the three battling beys to the astonishment of Syvia, Wales, and Sophie.


	7. Fisher's Return and The Battle (Part 2)

_**Special thanks to **_**Lyra Heartstrings_ for your review and for following this story! :D_**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"What in the name of beys are you doing?!" Syvia's voice snapped out, but I ignored her as Ocean Fisher smashed into Syvia's grey bey. "Hey, watch where you launch!"

"I'm done, Syvia. Living like dogs day in and day out. Well, no more!" I turned to look at Wales and Sophie. "Do me a favor and keep the rest of them back, will you. I'll take care of Syvia."

"You little traitor! We'll teach you the meaning of loyalty!" Wys's voice made me flinch. Thankfully, Wales and Sophie were happy enough to allow me to battle Syvia myself and kept themselves occupied by battling the four beys that kept trying to get at my own.

"You're gonna regret that choice, Ariao!" Syvia growled, her eyes burning with fury. "Serpent! Storming Thunder!"

_Please let this work!_ I looked over at Fisher. The dark blue kingfisher nodded at me and I smiled, turning my attention back to the battle. "Fisher! Ocean Typhoon!" My bey flashed as Fisher flew off my shoulder to hover briefly over the spinning bey. With a cry, the bird glowed and turned transparent, causing everyone to gasp in amazement. "Witness the true power of a Heart Bey!"

"What?" Syvia took a step back and shielded her eyes as Fisher clashed with Serpent, causing a small explosion. As smoke filled the air, I called back my bey and took off, jumping through the now shattered window. I knew that there was no way Syvia would let me go that easily, but I wasn't too keen to stick around so that everyone could realize my secret.

* * *

"S-Sophie!" Wales coughed and opened his eyes a bit, trying to see his partner through the thick smoke.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Sophie replied before coughing as well. As the smoke finally cleared, he could see her looking at the area where the beybattle was taking place…or rather where it _should_ be taking place. There was only Syvia's grey Storm Serpent that remained spinning. Ariao and her bey had completely vanished.

"That little…this is your fault!" Syvia spat at them between coughs.

"And your time here is done." Wales looked over the leader's shoulder to see Julian step into view, his dark blue eyes narrowed. "Time for this to end." He said, launching his own bey. "Open, eyes of Medusa!"

* * *

I paused, looking over my shoulder. Fisher circled me a couple of times before perching on a pole that stuck out of one of the stone buildings.

"Was that really wise?" Fisher asked, tilting his head at me.

"I wasn't going to give away my secrets to them!" I snapped out loud, causing the bird to flap its wings a bit. "Besides, I have to get a chance to grab my blueprints before Syvia and the others get back."

"I see." Fisher's voice sounded in my head and I thought I heard him sigh. "Wait! Someone's coming!"

* * *

"Is Klaus back at the training facility?" Wales asked, walking over to the Excalibur leader. Julian shook his head.

"I told Klaus to follow that Ariao kid. She won't lose him that easily." He replied.

"Why do you want to find her?" Sophie asked, puzzled, coming over to stand beside Wales.

"I have to know for myself why she's here." Julian said tensely, turning and walking off, leaving Wales and Sophie to follow behind him.

* * *

_How many?_ I asked Fisher, looking quickly up at the bird.

"Just one. I think it's one of the ones from yesterday." Fisher replied, gliding down to land on my shoulder.

_Do you think you have the energy to use that new move we worked on before?_ I asked, reaching for the bey.

"Never better!" Fisher replied, shifting so that he was ready to jump into battle.

"There you are." the large blader stepped forward, causing me to step back in surprise. I hadn't expected him to be this large!

"What do you want?" I asked, gripping the blade tightly, my eyes never leaving him.

"Just relax. I'm not here to waste my time battling someone like you." Klaus said in an irritated tone. "Julian wants to talk with you. I'm just here to take you to him."

"Like that'll happen!" I snapped, putting my blade in its launcher. I saw the large blader look startled for a second before pulling out his own dark red blade and aiming it at me.

"Let it rip!" We launched our beys, causing them to clash in midair. There was a cloud of smoke that hid the battle from view. Before I could recall Ocean Fisher and make a getaway, a heavy force held me in place.

_What?! Fisher, what's happening?!_

"It almost feels as if gravity has increased." Fisher replied with a cry of pain.


	8. Beginning of the End

_**Special thanks to **_**Lyra Heartstrings_ for your review and for following this story! :D_**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"Fisher! Break loose!" I called, feeling the heavier gravity on myself as well as my partner.

"You are asking the impossible!" Fisher snapped at me as the bird fell to the ground. The moment the dark blue body hit the stone, my bey stopped spinning and fell onto its side. Ignoring the other members of Team Excalibur around me, I ran over and gently scooped the dark blue kingfisher into my arms before turning to glare at the boy who recalled the black beyblade.

"What do you want?" I asked, glaring at the blond. The one that everyone had called Konzern.

"Relax. I just need to talk with you about something." Konzern said, walking calmly towards me.

_Fisher?_

"I know. I can't get much of a sense of him." Fisher sounded exhausted but at least he was alright.

"Wales and Sophie told me they told you about what was going on." Konzern paused, his dark blue eyes never leaving my green ones. "I don't think we need any spies among us." His tone held a warning in it.

"Like I told them, I'm not here as a blader. I'm a bey builder!" I sighed. For some reason, I was already getting tired of explaining this. "I left Beylin Temple to experience different types of beys to make."

"They wanted someone to help repair their beys?" Konzern asked, almost sounding as if he didn't believe me.

"I don't know the full reason. Go ask them!" I snapped, picking up my blade. "All I know is that I have to go and grab my plans before Syvia decides to burn them." For a moment, a tense silence fell over everyone. What Konzern said next had me backtracking in surprise.

"I'll make you a deal. You take us to this main base where your plans are and we'll let you take them and head on your way."

"Julian!" Wales hissed, looking at Konzern with surprise.

_So his name's Julian. Julian Konzern._ I felt Fisher stir in my arms and let him fly up onto the pole he had originally perched on.

"There is a certain truth to his words. And with their help, you can grab the blueprints and go." Fisher replied, looking at me with one eye. I met my partner's gaze for a moment before turning back to Julian.

"You're really going to let me go after I take you to the base?" I asked, narrowing my eyes in suspicion. Julian smirked and nodded. I hesitated. It would be nice to have an "armed escort" into the area. Especially since I was now wanted among both groups in town. On the other hand, something just seemed wrong about the whole thing. Even Fisher wasn't completely sure about Julian's intentions. After a few moments of mental arguing with myself, I nodded to them. "Fine. I'll take you."

"Lead the way then." Julian said pleasantly, nodding to the bulky blader that still stood behind me. "It's alright now, Klaus." I turned to see him stand aside so I could take the lead.

_I hope we're right with this. Otherwise there's going to be trouble._ I told Fisher, looking up at him. The bird let out a soft cry of agreement before gliding down to land on my shoulder again. I stroked Fisher's head quickly before heading off, taking the lead down the maze of allies.

"Over there." I finally whispered, indicating the currently deserted area. Even in its current state, it was easy to see that it was a base camp recently with random little things scattered around.

"Looks like they're all gone for now." Sophie stated quietly, coming over to stand beside me.

"For now." I agreed, looking around. Cautiously, I headed over to where my little space had been and shifted a couple of boxes to reveal a metal box that I had managed to keep from when I first came to the E.U. and opened it, relieved to find the blueprints still in place.

"That it then?" I jumped, not realizing that Wales and Sophie had followed me.

"Sad for you, but yes. Now then, thanks for helping me get these back and I'll, uh, just leave you to it." I said, backing away from them.

"Not quite." Julian's voice spoke up and I froze. "It's a bit more complicated than that." I watched him with growing fear as he came closer. "You see, they weren't the only ones to need a builder. Every team has a support member. We don't."

"I'm sure the BBA can help with that." I said, taking another step back when he didn't continue. Julian chuckled at that.

"Not quite what I meant. I'm asking you to join Team Excalibur." I blinked at that, not really sure what to think.

"I would be careful if I were you. Something doesn't quite fit here." Fisher warned.

_I know…but still…the chance to work with an actual team like this! I'll keep my eyes open._ I promised him when he was about to protest. Looking back at Julian, I paused for a moment before nodding.


	9. Training and the Confernce

_**Special thanks to **_**Lyra Heartstrings_ for your review and for following this story! :D_**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

I was still surprised that Julian Konzern himself had offered a position on the team, but I was in no hurry to complain. Especially after what I was looking at now.

"What's wrong?" Wales asked, looking back at me. The others were heading for a large building off to one side.

"This is…" I trailed off as Fisher took off, flying over the grounds.

"A bit more than you're used to?" Sophie asked, a light smile on her face. I nodded, gazing around the gardens.

"We don't have time to stand around." Julian pointed out, turning to continue towards the large building. I blinked at his tone. It almost sounded like….

"That's right. You have that press conference to discuss the Festival of Warriors." Wales said turning back to follow behind Julian.

"I'm sorry, the what?" I blinked, quickly falling in behind Klaus.

"Festival of Warriors. It's a very special tournament that we hold here in Italy involving a single blader from every country in the E.U." Sophie explained.

"Every year, countries send in their strongest bladers for a chance to claim victory in the name of their land." Wales continued.

"Wow. Sounds intense." I said, glad when Fisher finally landed back on my shoulder. I stroked his feathers as Julian opened the door to the building. As the group stepped in, I paused when Julian turned to face me.

"Right. As a member of Team Excalibur, you are allowed to be there. Expected to be there, in fact." Julian narrowed his eyes. "You will be with me in watching it while Wales and Sophie act as judge." I nodded. Julian turned back around and walked over to the front before turning to face us.

"Alright, listen up. With this festival only days away, we have to get as much training in as possible. Head to one of the stations and get to work." With that, the others gave some sort of salute and headed over to different sections.

"Come on, Ariao! You can join us over here." I looked over where Wales and Sophie were starting with the treadmills.

"Er…yeah. Thanks." I choked out and headed over to them. I wasn't used to seeing bladers train using these hi-tech machines.

"Let's see how well you can keep up!" Sophie challenged, smirking at me. That did it. Narrowing my eyes, I allowed one of the doctors there to hook up some wires and what not before I jumped on and we were off.

"You'll regret that challenge." I promised, setting the speed to match theirs on the treadmill. I caught the look of surprise from Wales and Sophie out of the corner of my eye while Fisher flew around above my head.

"How are you not tiring?" Wales asked, starting to breathe harder. The only response I gave was a soft chuckle. They would find out one day, but for now, I wanted to keep a bit of my secrets…including the training we did at Beylin Temple.

"Alright, you all can break for now." Julian said, coming over to us, a white towel draped over the back of his neck. "It's time for the conference."

"Hold on, we're _all_ going?" I asked, jumping off the treadmill before it could throw me off. Fisher landed on my shoulder again and fluffed his feathers a bit before settling into place.

"It's how we always go." Sophie explained, taking a towel from the closest doctor.

"As the unbreakable Team Excalibur." Wales added, tossing his own towel at the doctor Sophie had taken one from.

"Well, come on then." Julian stated before I could ask any more questions, turning towards the door, grabbing his red jacket on the way.

_Looks like I'm not the only one with secrets._ I told Fisher.

"Perhaps it is fair that way. But is it really wise to hide so much from them?" Fisher asked me, nudging my cheek with his head.

_Maybe…I don't know. We still don't know if they really trust us. It was just so sudden._ I sighed as I handed my towel to one of the doctors before hurrying out to catch up to the rest of the team. We were heading towards the mansion and had just rounded a corner when the barrage of reporters tried to press forward.

_Wait…it's being held HERE?_ I was startled by the sudden onslaught of noise and took a step back, only to have Klaus push me forward again. Almost at once, questions were being fired, some of them were curious as to who I was and what I was doing there. As if tired of the questions, Julian finally pulled me up beside him before turning back to the crowd.

"For those of you wondering, this is Team Excalibur's newest member. Our support member, Ariao Wang." He said my name slowly as if he were trying to preserve the moment. There were flashes from cameras everywhere and Fisher let out a small cry of surprise and fear that was probably more of a reflection of my own emotions than his.

_Why did he pause like that? Is he…_ My thoughts trailed off as I glanced at the Excalibur leader from the corner of my eye.

"He could very well be thinking that Dashan will be watching this." Fisher replied grimly. "And if he does indeed get word of it, then it could mean trouble when they meet in battle."

_Too right._ I told my partner as Julian waved me back to stand with the rest of the team. Once I was back in line next to Klaus, Julian turned back to the reporters.

"Members and bladers of the European Union. It is my great honor and privilege to announce that the time for the Festival of Warriors is almost upon us. Countries, choose your bladers wisely, for victory will not come easy this year, but know that as long as you fight with true honor, you can all take some satisfaction for your countries. I wish you all the best of luck in the coming days." With that, Julian nodded to the reporters and the more intense questioning began.

_How is he able to keep so calm? I'd be losing it by now._ I asked Fisher, stroking the feathers on his head absentmindedly.

"I suspect he has had a great deal of practice in front of a crowd. The Konzern family seems to be seen as almost royalty here." Fisher replied, rubbing his head against my hand for a moment before turning to look at me. "By the way, are we going to actually get back to practicing tonight?" I smiled at him.

_It's time I got back into my old routines._ I agreed with a small sigh._ And tonight seems like the best time to start._


	10. Quick Story Note 1

Time for one of these infamous Quick Story Notes! :)

Alright, so from here, I will be jumping to China to view things a bit in Dashan's point of view, as it will be hard to keep strictly to Ariao's point of view later on. This way it sort of establishes the concern Dashan has for his sister and the plot ends on a better note rather than him suddenly seeming to care near the end. XD

For those of you that read from the Vampire Knight section as well (If any), fear not. The "Songblood Trilogy" is back on track and I plan to start putting that back up again by week's end. Sorry it took so long on that front, but I literally lost EVERYTHING after that trojan virus struck so I've had to do a lot of reclaiming, reviewing and replanning. The only reason I've been able to keep this particular story up and going is because I'm hand-writing this one as opposed to having it all on the computer like the other ones.

Wow, that was a longer one. Anyhow...please take the few seconds to review. Honestly, as long as it's constuctive, I don't care if you criticise my work. I enjoy putting these up here for people to read but I wouldn't mind a comment every now and then.

Happy writing and/or reading to you all!

Ariao


	11. Discovery in China

_**Special thanks to **_**Lyra Heartstrings_ for your review and for following this story! :D_**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Back in China, things were going smoothly for the moment at Beylin Temple. In one of the stadiums, two bladers were training, both watching carefully for the other to make a move. After a few moments of this, the smaller of the two bladers let out a soft growl before calling to his bey.

"Lacerta! Go, Tempestuous Whirlwind Sword!" With that, the pale red bey flashed and the lizard came out with a roar, rearing on its back legs to attack.

"I don't think so. Zurafa! Storm Surge!" The second blader cried, shifting his stance so that he was standing on one leg, arms out for balance. The dark yellow bey flashed and the Chinese dragon came out, flames burning on its feet and around its legs as it let out a roar and charged towards Lacerta. The two beys clashed head on and for a moment, it looked like it would be a draw, but with a final cry from Zurafa, it slid back and crashed again into Lacerta, sending it flying out of the stadium.

"Ahhh. Chi Yun still isn't strong enough to defeat Dashan." The smaller balder said sadly, going over and picking up his bey.

"Maybe not yet, but you still put up a good fight." Dashan said calmly, calling back his Rock Zurafa. Chi Yun looked up at him, blue eyes hopeful.

"Chi Yun will not let Dashan down in the next match." He promised, gripping his bey tightly.

"As long as you battle with all your blader's spirit, you won't have to worry about that." Dashan said, closing his green eyes. He still remembered his defeat to Ginga and GenGen Galaxy. Since that day, the whole team had changed, himself included.

_If only you could have been there, Ariao._ He thought with a small sigh. He had often wondered where his sister had gone after leaving Beylin Temple, but with the tournament still going on, it was impossible to try and search for her. They had to focus on training so that they could re-challenge Ginga and his team! Before they could discuss it further, two more bladers came running up.

"Dashan! You're not going to believe this!" The brown-haired blader said, running over to stop in front of the Wang Hu Zong leader.

"What's wrong, Chao Xin?" Dashan asked, turning to face the third member of his team.

"We were in town shopping around when we passed by that T.V. store near the center of town." Chao Xin began, still slightly out of breath from running all the way back up to Beylin Temple. "They had a news session from the E.U. about the Festival of Warriors."

"We can't compete in that anyhow. When we found out about it, it was discovered to be only for the E.U. members." Dashan cut in, completely missing what the playboy blader was trying to say.

"I know that. But there was someone there that you need to know about!" Chao Xin burst out, finally getting his breath back. "It was Ariao!"

"Say what?!" Dashan grabbed Chao Xin's shirt and pulled him closer. "What would Ariao be doing over there?" He demanded.

"She's the report member of Team Excalibur." The other blader, a young girl with black hair, replied.

"You mean _Support_ member." Chao Xin said as Dashan let go of his shirt, green eyes full of shock.

"Yeah, that." Mei-Mei agreed softly, having caught Dashan's expression.

"Of all the places to choose from…why the E.U.?" Chi Yun asked, not understanding it either. Silence fell around the members of Wang Hu Zong as they all wondered what had happened. Finally, Dashan spoke up.

"I'm going there. I have to find out what's going through her head and bring her back." He growled, pulling out Rock Zurafa. It had been his sister's idea to add the rubber wings to help make Zurafa even more of a defense type.

"Chi Yun will go too!" Chi Yun said, coming over to look up at Dashan, blue eyes narrowed slightly.

"So am I. I want to know what's going through her head, myself." Chao Xin added, looking determined.

"Same here." Mei-Mei put in. "Ariao's as much a part of this team as the rest of us."

"Chi Yun…Chao Xin…Mei-Mei…" Dashan closed his eyes and sighed. "Thank you." He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. "It's too late to go now, and the next flight to the E.U. won't be for a few days yet. Until then, let's get what practice we can in."

"Right." The others agreed, nodding.

_Don't worry, Ariao. I'll get you out of there and bring you back home where you belong._ Dashan thought as he faced off against Chi Yun again.

"Let it rip!"


	12. Story of the Heart Bey

_**Special thanks to **_**Lyra Heartstrings_ for your review and for following this story! :D_**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Night had fallen a few hours after the press conference and Julian had dismissed us to do as we pleased until tomorrow. Everyone else had gone to the dorm rooms off the training building we had been in earlier. I had gone only to make sure I knew where my own room was before heading off to explore.

Right now, I was in some sort of garden with a large fountain that acted as a centerpiece. Fisher seemed content with this spot and had already dove in and out of the small pool of water a few times before landing on a tree branch a little ways off, watching me as his feathers dried in the warm night air.

_You know…this water almost makes me think of all the waterfalls we had around the temple back home._ I commented, sitting on the stone edge of the fountain base.

"It does have a sense of peace to it." Fisher replied and I thought I picked up a sigh from him before he glided over the water and rested on the top level, watching me closely.

"Yeah, I know." I told the bird aloud, chuckling a bit as he waited for me to launch the bey. I pulled out Ocean Fisher and snapped it in place, aiming the bey under the flowing water. "That new special move we planned needs some work." The kingfisher let out a soft cry of agreement.

"Let it rip!" With that, I launched the blade and Fisher took off, his form becoming transparent. "Fisher, special move! Icicle Spear!" I saw my bey flash through the falling water and Fisher let out a cry as he switched to his bit-beast form. Some of the water on the bey hardened and changed into ice shards before one of the spears grew too close to the bey and caused it to stop spinning.

"Working on a new special move in the middle of the night in secret?" I jumped and spun around only to see Julian standing there.

"Well, I couldn't do it while we were training. Besides, I'm not really a part of the blading portion of the team. Just the support member." I replied with a light shrug as I went to grab my bey.

"Then why bother at all?" Julian asked, crossing his arms over his chest. I looked back at him, wondering if there was something he was _trying_ to get me to say. Fisher had reappeared in his mortal form at that time and chose now to land on my shoulder. "And that's another thing." He added, nodding to the kingfisher. "Wales and Sophie told me that you mentioned that bird and your bey being one and the same. Care to explain?"

_Fisher? What do you think?_ I asked, looking at the bird on my shoulder.

"I do not sense any bad intentions from him. He merely seems curious at the moment." Fisher replied and I sighed.

"Alright, but it's a bit of a long story." I warned, sitting down on the ground and crossing my legs. Julian smirked at that and went over to sit on the stone edge of the fountain. That helped me as it would have been hard to look at him and tell him about Fisher. My own brother barely knew the story and here I was about to tell it to someone I had barely known for more than a day?

"As a bey builder back in Beylin Temple, I was sort of on my own most of the time. I had fun making the beys and trying to use different parts for different effects. The day I built Fisher's bey, I was adding a small metal ball within the bey itself to help give it more stability in battle." I closed my eyes, feeling Julian watching me carefully. "That was when the lightning came."

"Lightning?" Julian asked, shifting slightly behind me.

"No storm, no clouds…but for some reason, there was a bolt of lightning that came and connected with the metal ball I was about to put into Fisher's bey. The blast knocked me out for a few days but when I came around, Fisher was right there beside me." I turned my head to smile at the bird. "We've been together ever since."

"So it was an accident?" Julian asked after I was done.

"Not in this case, I don't think. Fisher chose to show himself to me in a mortal form. Because of the metal ball inside acting as a sort of heart, I more or less gave the bey the title of Heart Bey." I held up Fisher's bey and looked at it against the moonlight. Julian was silent for a long time before finally breaking into my thoughts.

"So about the special move deal?"

"Right." I put Fisher's bey back into my pocket and leaned back against the small wall of the fountain. "It's sort of hard to explain, but I feel as if I'll need to be able to battle against someone stronger than what's come so far." I narrowed my eyes as I looked up at the stars. "Icicle Spear is the move that will help in that, but as far as when and where?" I shook my head. "I wish I knew."

"Sounds crazy to me." Julian said, getting to his feet and heading back to the mansion where his own room was. "And you'd best get some rest. The next few days are going to be intense." With that, he left.

_Do you think he's right, Fisher?_

"No. Your Bey Sight has always been true before. There is something out there that will require that move to be ready. But for now, it is late. We should head back." Fisher pointed out. I sighed, knowing he was right. This was too important to drop that easily, but for now, it would have to wait until tomorrow.


	13. The Festival of Warriors (Part 1)

_**Special thanks to **_**Lyra Heartstrings_ for your review and for following this story! :D_**

* * *

**_Follows Episode 16: "The Festival of Warriors"_**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

All the preparations were finally complete. We had all been here in Greece for the last couple of days heading the plans for the Festival of Warriors. With a few hours left before the actual event, we were allowed to go and wander around…as long as we were back at the temple by noon.

"Can we go and look at the Aegean Sea again?" Fisher asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other in excitement.

_You've seen it how many times so far?_ I asked with a shake of my head.

"On my own, yes. But together there'll be a feeling of completion." Fisher flew off my shoulder and circled above me for a few moments, causing a few people around me to look warily at us.

_Alright, fine. Just get back here before people start asking questions._ Fisher let out a soft cry of delight and landed back on my shoulder.

"Great! I know the perfect spot. To the ruins!"

_Sometimes, I wonder about you._ I commented before following his gentle nudging towards the west side of town.

I had to admit, the view around here was pretty good. The Aegean Sea stretched around the small outcrop of land we were on, shining dark blue against the sunlight that bounced along with the waves. Unfortunately, there was already a group here. So much for having some time to myself. I did my best to ignore their complaints, but once I caught word of the Festival of Warriors, I couldn't help but chuckle at them.

"Hey, what's so funny?" I turned to look at a boy dressed in a green shirt, his black hair spiked in random fashion.

"The fact that you all think you can make it in the Festival of Warriors." I said, turning to face them. That's when I realized who it really was: Gen Gen Galaxy, the Japanese team.

"Why? Are there really strong bladers there?" Ginga asked, his eyes glowing at the thought.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you'll get the chance to battle them." I told them, crossing my arms over my chest to glare at them.

"Hold on a minute…is anyone else getting a sense of Déjà vu here?" Tsubasa asked, putting the map he was holding away and coming to stand next to the smallest member, Yu.

"Now that you mention it…" Yu tilted his head for a moment.

"Oh, this is funny. The so-called great Gen Gen Galaxy has no idea who I am. What do you think, Fisher? Should we give them a hint?" I looked at my partner, who was resting on one of the stone pillars that still stood.

"Let them have that fun." Fisher replied and I smirked.

"Hold on…you know who we are?" Ginga asked, blinking.

"Yeah. I saw your match against Wang Hu Zhong." I replied, going over and leaning against a nearby pillar so that Fisher was only a small distance away from me as I turned back to them.

"Were you there?" Masamude asked, grinning.

"Not in person. But I have my ways of knowing." I looked at Ginga. "Though I gotta admit, I never expected to see anyone break through our defensive technique."

"Our? Wait…are you from China? Beylin Temple?" Ginga asked eagerly.

"So what if I was? I have my place here now." I replied with a shrug, closing my eyes for a moment. I did miss the closeness I had there, but I wasn't about to admit that to anyone but Fisher.

"That's why you seem familiar then. Do you happen to know Dashan?" Yu asked, coming over to stand beside Ginga. I opened one eye to look at them.

"Maybe I do. And maybe I don't." I told them. I really did wish that I had done something to change before getting involved in this mess. The only difference physically (aside from the obvious) was that I had white where he had yellow hair. Other than that, we were too much alike.

"It's getting close. You'd best break it off here before Julian sends someone after you." Fisher's voice rang in my ears.

_Yeah, you're right._ I sighed and pushed off the wall.

"H-Hey, where are you going?" Masamude asked, sounding a bit frustrated.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen closely." I paused and looked at the Japanese team over my shoulder. "You have no chance of getting into the Festival of Warriors. If that's all you came here to do, get on the next plane out and go home." With that, I turned and walked off, making my way back to the temple.


	14. The Festival of Warriors (Part 2)

_**Special thanks to **_**Lyra Heartstrings_ for your review and for following this story! :D_**

* * *

**_Follows Episode 16: "The Festival of Warriors"_**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

"There you are." Julian said, coming over to me.

"What? Not even Wales and Sophie are back yet." I replied, looking around pointedly. Fisher let out a soft cry of confusion.

"Not that. I sent Klaus off to go back to training." Julian said, his eyes hardening. "We don't need everyone here. As long as we have our judges."

"Let me guess. You want me to head back as well?" I asked, thinking I knew where this was going.

"If you'd let me finish, you'd know what I want you to do." I could tell Julian was doing his best to keep calm, but he was agitated about something. "Though it's early, I need you to go find Sophie and Wales. The crowd's already starting to gather." As if to prove his point, I heard an argument start up outside the temple.

"I'll get them here." I promised as Julian closed his eyes for a moment. He nodded his thanks before turning to break up the argument outside before it turned into a fight.

_Seems like Julian really has his hands full at the moment._ I looked at Fisher.

"No kidding. Sophie's the closest. She's at the beach where the shipwreck is again." He replied, knowing what I was about to ask him. During the free time we had managed to scrape up amid the preparations, Sophie had shown me the place where an ancient Greek ship was under the water.

_Thanks Fisher!_ I smiled and took off.

"Oh great, not them again." I muttered, seeing Gen Gen Galaxy talking with Sophie. I trotted over to them, remembering what had happened back at the temple.

"Oh, hey! It's you." Masamude was the first to spot me.

"Ariao? What are you doing out here?" Sophie asked, turning to look at me.

"Ariao? That's your name?" Ginga asked, looking puzzled.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." I said quickly before beckoning Sophie closer. "Julian needs you and Wales back at the temple. Things are starting to get dicey." I whispered. I saw her eyes narrow a bit as she pulled back.

"Right. You go find him and I'll head over." She said before turning back to the Japanese team. I didn't stick around to hear what they had to say, I still had to find Wales!

_Wales should be eating lunch about now. Any idea which restaurant?_ I asked Fisher, pausing at the first restaurant I came to.

"Not here. Keep going. He's closer to the center of town at the moment." Fisher responded. "We'll need to spit up for this one. There's a lot of restaurants around here."

_Right. Let me know if you spot him._ I told him as he flew off.

After about five minutes, Fisher's voice came through. "I've found him! He's being challenged to a battle right now."

_Great. A battle's the last thing he needs right now._ I thought, heading for where I could sense Fisher.

"Wait…he's just ended it." Fisher replied with a sigh. "And the whole thing lasted about two seconds."

_Two seconds? That's-_ I broke the thought off as I nearly crashed into Wales.

"Ariao?"

"No time. Chaos at the Temple. Julian needs you and Sophie there now." I said, giving my head a quick shake to clear it. I saw Wales sigh and I blinked at him.

"Right. On it. Thanks Ariao." Wales told me before heading off. I shook my head for a moment before taking off after him, completely ignoring the Japanese team as they came around the corner.

"I see what you meant now." Sophie told me as I came up. Her and Wales were standing on opposite sides of Julian as he prepared to welcome the warriors into the temple. I went over to take my place behind Julian, who nodded at me, before turning back to face the crowd.


End file.
